Fall Creek gets exclusive rights for EasyRose ‘ALEL101’ raspberry

A world leader in berry genetics, Fall Creek Farm and Nursery entered into an exclusive propagation and sales license agreement with Lucchini Berries SRL for EasyRose ‘ALEL101’, a primocane raspberry developed by Elisa and Alessandro Lucchini in Verona, Italy. 

The partnership follows Fall Creek’s June 2026 acquisition of Berryplant and Berrytech and marks another step in the company’s berry business development.

“Elisa and Alessandro Lucchini combine a deep technical understanding of raspberry breeding with a genuine passion for crop innovation. Importantly, they had already moved well beyond proof of concept,” Burgert van Dyk, Rubus Director at Fall Creek, told FreshFruitPortal.com. 

The variety is now in its fourth year of cultivation and has been evaluated and planted in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Morocco, and Egypt. Fall Creek will continue assessing the cultivar in additional territories and commercialize the variety in countries where trials are successful.

“We are not starting from scratch: we are building on a validated foundation created by passionate and knowledgeable people,” van Dyk added. “Fall Creek can now complement that foundation with our global nursery infrastructure, advanced evaluation capabilities, technical grower support, and commercial reach.”

EasyRose: Flavor and versatility

According to Fall Creek, EasyRose ‘ALEL101’ brings “valuable operational flexibility” to the firm’s raspberry portfolio. 

The variety can be grown in both primocane and floricane cycles and has shown potential for a third crop under favorable conditions. In primocane production, harvest can begin 90 to 100 days after transplanting. EasyRose ‘ALEL101’ produces fruit averaging more than seven grams, with a light pink color at full ripeness, firm and dry texture, and sweet flavor.

“We see EasyRose ‘ALEL101’ as a complementary addition rather than a replacement for existing varieties. Its core value lies in giving growers a versatile option that can adapt to different production strategies, harvest windows, and microclimates,” the Rubus Director explained. 

The development team at Lucchini Berries has long bet on the variety’s potential, which, thanks to this partnership with the nursery, will come to full fruition. 

“I believe Fall Creek is the partner that can truly help it take off, bringing the structure, experience and international presence needed to reach growers and markets around the world,” said Lucchini Berries owner Alessandro Lucchini in a press release.

According to the company, the focus will remain on expanding systematic evaluation of EasyRose ‘ALEL101’ in priority territories, including Mexico, Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula.

“Our commercial strategy follows a clear principle: market deployment is driven by data, not assumptions,” van Dyk noted, explaining that the plan is to establish clear performance metrics and determine grower fit in the aforementioned markets before committing to broader commercial rollouts.

Italy remains a pivotal strategic hub for the company’s Rubus program across the Mediterranean and beyond. From there, the firm says, commercial scaling within priority markets will be guided directly by the results of ongoing trials and grower evaluations.

*All images courtesy of Fall Creek. 

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